The Conflagratory Palingenesis: A Lament for the Phoenix of the Shillong Bar Association

It’s 10:50 pm of 24.02.2024
That’s before the mid-night,
Waking from slumber
to a ringing din,
Phones blaring out
in cacophonous cries,
Summoning me forth
into the night.
Rushing out
I saw a fiery light,  
As flames engulfed
the historic hall -
Timbers crackling
as documents charred inside.

The hungry flames
consumed all they spied
Within those aged walls
built long ago.  
Priceless words
turned swiftly into ashes -
Speeches penned
by visionary minds,
Contracts securing futures,
fates and ties,
Disintegrating
as the fire spread wide.   

Through smoky air
the sirens loudly cried,
Fire engines racing
to join the fight  
Against destruction's
evergreedy maw.  
Brave firefighters
tackling swelling tides  
Of ravenous flames
and billowing smoke.
Desperate to save
what clues they could find   

Within the ruins,
clues to help divine
What precious pieces
might yet survive  
And somehow be salvaged
from the blaze
Still greedily
fed on ancient beams
And century-old
carved ancestral frames
Once witness
to this city's changing times.

By midnight's hour
the battle reached its peak,
Exhausted firefighters
still hard at work  
Dousing every lingering
spark they meet  
In charred and sodden piles
of black debris -  
Twisted pipes,
cracked bricks
and steaming pools  
Marking the fire's hungry,
destructive streak.  

Ashes float
upon the gentle breeze
As stunned officials
stand and silently grieved
Surveying the damage
with appalled eyes-  
So much history now destroyed,
demise
Of relics that had weathered
all fates and stings
Before this tragedy
broke faith with time.

The hungry flames,
they spared naught in their feast-  
Not desk
nor room
nor ancestral art-
Rending augmented souls
now bereft  
Of physical anchors
housing their best-  
Those words
and works
which had defined
their hearts,  
Preserved their knowledge,
proclaimed their beliefs.  

Yet as I watch the smoke
begin to thin,
See firefighters' weary,
saddened faces,
Knowing what healing
now must herein begin-  
I cling fast
to one last hope
that still shines-
We yet retain
within our living minds  
All they have taught
and we still have to give.  

The fire has ravaged
but not erased
All the ideals their work
once ensconced-
Though blackened walls
may certainly distress,
What truly matters
dwells in living hearts-   
Kindle spirits
can recreate the rest  
And build that hall up
finessed than before!

Rising from the ashes,
we shall soar-  
Strong souls
endure what trials
may assail,
Gathering strength
through crisis and pain.  
Banded together
no foe can prevail-   
United
by bonds the years
only forge tighter,
We shall overcome
and thrive once more!  

So let us now
the future's course restore-
Honoring burned words
with new works made greater,
Remembering what overnight
was lost yet saving
What truly made that old building
so hallowed ,
so revered -
Not brick and beam
but community matters.  

From disaster's grip
now slowly wrestling free,
Healing hands
shall mend all wounds in time.
Standing on smouldering
ruins we still see  
In mind's eye
that rising edifice so grand-
Hall of justice ,
truth's staunch advocate sublime,  
Shall be summoned back
more glorious than before!

So let dirges soft
as smoke now fade,
Requiem's soulful notes
no more sound doleful-
Instead let progress
and promise serenade  
This emptied place,
clearing way for rebirth bolder!
From night's dark throat
hope's rays now cascade-   
The past is gone
but the future stands before!





























 The poem is  part of a full version found in the book “Homo Sapiens” Part Part I - XXIX, written by Mawphniang Napoleon. This book is part of the popular “Homo Sapiens” book series, which can be purchased online at various online bookstores, such as Amazon. The book is available for purchase for those who are interested in reading the complete version of the poem. Remember to get all the books from the “Homo Sapiens” series, as well as other books by the same author.   
So, don’t hesitate and get a copy today from one of the many online bookstores.   -


Khublei Shihajar Nguh,  -
(Dhanewad  )-
(Thank you )